Signs Point to Yah
by GlitterTrails
Summary: The "Magic 8 Ball" Finland received at a white elephant gift exchange is scaring the stockings off of him. Will a mysterious transformation get in the way of true love?
1. Don't Toy With Finland

"I've never had a Magic 8 Ball before…" Finland sat on the armchair in his living room holding the plastic toy "I wonder what I should ask it? Hopefully I won't have to put myself on the "naughty" list for messing with pagan magic." He giggled to himself.

"Let me see. Well it has to be a 'yes or no' question yah? Okay then. Oh! I know a good one. Are Norway and Iceland really brothers?" He shook the Magic 8 Ball and then looked at the answer circle.

-Yah-

"Ha ha! I knew it! Though I guess it's a silly thing to ask a Magic 8 Ball when it was already confirmed with a DNA test. Alright then…is Denmark extremely obnoxious?"

-V'ry yah-

"Ha ha ha ha ha! This Magic 8 Ball is silly! I like it. Do you like me too, Magic 8 Ball?"

-I l've ya.-

Finland froze and the plastic ball fell out of his hands.

Had the Magic 8 Ball just told Finland that it loved him? Or had Finland just had one too many glasses of eggnog at the Christmas party an hour ago?

He picked the toy back up and looked at it again.

-W'll ya m'rry me?-

**"AIHH!"**Finland shrieked as he chucked the Magic 8 Ball across the room, narrowly missing the Christmas tree.

Finland had to take a moment to catch his breath as the Magic 8 Ball stopped rolling and became motionless. He sat in his chair quivering for a moment, then breathed out a sigh of relief.

"Ah ha ha ha! Look at yourself Finny! You're getting all worked up about this when it's probably nothing. It's a toy, yah? It probably just has those answers on there as a joke. Just a couple of coincidental responses was all."

He got out of his chair and knelt down by the Magic 8 Ball "Sorry for throwing ya little guy. Don't ya think it's a little early for us to get married?" Finland laughed as he picked the Magic 8 Ball up. "We only met tonight after all."

Then he looked at the answer circle.

-N't too 'rly f'r me-

"AIHH!" Finland slid back to the opposite side of the room and hid his face inside of a throw pillow. "Holy Martin Luther! This is one scary toy! Someone must've hexed it before it got to the gift exchange. Who would bring something so creepy?"

Finland stayed shaking for a minute with his face buried in the pillow before he was able to pull himself together again.

"Okay Finny, calm down now. This thing is creepy, but it's just a toy. You're a country, you can pick it up and throw it somewhere very far out your window. Yes! I can do that. I'm going to take my face out of the pillow now, on the count of three..."

He lifted his face up and saw that the Magic 8 Ball was right at his feet.

"AIH! AIHH HOLY AIHHH!" Finland screamed for the third time with in the last five minutes. This time was the loudest and the most panicked though. Not only had the Magic 8 Ball moved on its own from the opposite side of the room to the floor next to Finland's feet, the answer circle showed this most scary-looking scowling face.

"WAH HAH HAH!" Finland cried as he yanked a coat off the floor and frantically wrapped the Magic 8 Ball up. He stuffed the bundle under his arm, ran out the door and across the country. He stopped when he reached the top of MountHalti and hurled the Magic 8 Ball as far as he possibly could.

"Whew." Finland sighed with relief. "There we go! Problem solved. Creepy toy has been tossed high off the mountain so it can't scare anybody ever again, especially not me." Finland smiled to himself as he started walking back home, unable to hear the far off sounds of a small plastic ball rolling back over the icy rocks.


	2. Outlook Unsettling

Finland answered the door the next morning to see his friend Estonia holding a plate of Christmas cookies.

"ESTONIA!"

"Hey Finland," his glasses-wearing friend replied "Sorry I couldn't make it to the party last night. I still wanted to bring you these cookies though."

"Thank you Estonia!" Finland beamed and gave him a hug "That's so sweet of you! I will treasure these cookies for ever and ever!"

"Or you could just...eat them...Oh also, this was on your doorstep."

No f(reproduce)ing way.

There was no possible way that insane, creepy Magic 8 Ball that he had tossed off MountHalti last night could be on his doorstep this morning.

...except that it was...

Finland took it from Estonia with trembling hands. With horror in his heart he turned the Magic 8 Ball over and read the answer circle.

-H'llo again, m' wife-

"WAHH!" Finland shrieked before tossing the Magic 8 Ball back behind his head with embarrassment. "Ah ha ha, thanks Estonia! I...hadn't expected to see this again...ah ha ha. Wow, these cookies you brought me sure look delicious. Isn't it just crazy how delicious cookies are?"

"Umm...Finland..." Estonia turned his head to the side in puzzled concern. "Are you sure you're doing well?"

"Yah! Of course! I'm happy as a holly sprig, can't you tell?" Finland half squeaked before breaking into nervous laughter. "Why wouldn't I be doing well?"

Estonia started to back away "No...no reason. Well, okay then! See you later Finland."

"Okay! Thanks again for the cookies!" Finland stood fake-smiling in the doorway before turning back into the living room and slamming the door behind him. He looked over to the Magic 8 Ball, sitting so innocently in the middle of the floor. With shaky legs he walked over and picked it up.

-Wh't's wr'ng m' wife?-

"Umm, listen… Magic 8 Ball…Please don't make such unpleasant jokes. You're scaring the sleigh bells off of me!"

-…b't we w're 'ngaged…-

"Hah, well, you see…you may have proposed to me last night, but I didn't actually say yes. So actually we're not engaged. I'm sorry for the confusion, and I'm flattered and everything but-"

-…ya d'n't rememb'r?-

"Umm…remember what? Look, I've never been engaged to anyone, okay?"

-…-

The silence was even more uncomfortable than when this crazy 8 ball was talking.

"Ha ha! So yeah, um…anyways! Now that we covered that we're not engaged-"

The vacant frightening scowl from last night reappeared in the answer circle.

"AIHHH! Alright, you know what, creepy Magic 8 Ball?" Finland picked up the toy and ran to his closet. He opened the bottom drawer filled with unmatched socks and buried the Magic 8 Ball inside.

"I'm really sorry," Finland explained as he slammed the drawer shut and sealed it with 6 rolls of duct tape "…but I have major anxiety issues and I can't deal with these kinds of things. I'm fragile, okay? So just stay in this drawer in the closet and don't come out!"

Finland yanked the closet door closed and sunk to his knees. "I can't live with this thing! You would think no toy would freak me out since I'm Father Christmas Finland and everything, but I don't think I've been this scared since the furby craze a few years back!"

He shuddered at the memory. Oh heck, the furbies. He remembered that he was so freaked out by the insane, furry bird-like horrors that he had to ask someone to ride with him on the sleigh the Christmas he had to deliver them.

Who had been the one who had ridden with him again? Some…person…some tall guy… Denmark? No, it hadn't been Denmark. That would've been a BAD idea. Denny would've taught the toys all sorts of outrageous things to say before they even got under the Christmas tree.

Finland couldn't remember exactly who had ridden with him. Right now he was too freaked out to care. Why did he have to open a new present at the white elephant gift exchange last night? Couldn't he have just swiped something safe that was already open like the toolbelt or the scented candle? Stupid spontaneity!

The fright was too much for him right now, he needed to stress-eat. Where were those cookies Estonia had given him?


	3. A Sphere's Tears

Sweden's sorrowful sigh echoed off the walls of his sphere-shaped prison.

_"...never been engaged..."_

It was worse than he thought it'd be. Not only did Finland not recognize him in this ridiculous form, his fiancé had forgotten about their relationship entirely. Finland and the rest of the world may have had Sweden erased from their memory altogether.

Sweden had underestimated the power of this curse. Oh well, he still didn't regret stepping in front of Finland to take it. If anything positive had come from their last two encounters, it was that Sweden could be assured that the love of his life was at least safe.

Finland's safety and happiness was the most important thing. That was another reason why Sweden had to break the spell and get out of this form; he couldn't protect his lover effectively in this condition. No matter how hard it was, Sweden had to get back to being himself, he just had to.

It was time to think strategically. Finland had no recollection of their previous relationship and Sweden had just shown up looking like a mass-produced novelty toy and started hitting on him. Hmm... The meager knowledge Sweden had about social skills told him that may have been just a touch awkward for poor Finny.

Dangit, these relationship things had never come easy to Sweden. He had an unrivaled capacity to love, but was downright horrible in expressing it in a non-terrifying manner. It'd taken him ages just to have Finland not scream every time he saw him. And then ages more to persuade Finland into loving him and getting engaged.

And that had been when he was a man. Now he had to repeat the process as an 8 ball. A magic freakin' 8 ball!

His heart got all teary as he recalled a pivotal encounter from Finland and his relationship back in the days when he was a human.

_It was early December. Finland was doing a Santa appearance at an elementary school. Sweden remembered watching Finland sitting cross-legged on the floor and laughing while the kids climbed all over him and told him what they wanted for Christmas. He could feel his brain roasting like chestnuts on an open fire from the sheer cuteness overload._

_Finland had asked him to make a dessert for the visit, and Sweden had more than happily obliged. An opportunity to impress Finland with his cooking skills was like a Christmas present in and of itself._

_But when Sweden stepped through the doorway, the children took one look at him and ran out of the classroom screaming. He stared at the floor of the empty classroom with shame. Even holding a tray filled with cookies and wearing a fuzzy reindeer sweater, it seemed he was just too terrifying for anybody to want to be around._

_He was about to turn and walk out when the sound of approaching jingle bells made Sweden look up. There stood Finland, looking perfectly precious in his fuzzy red and white Santa suit, complete with bells on the sleeves and everything._

_...And not... looking terrified?_

_"I'm sorry Sweden," Finland scratched the back of his head with a sheepish smile "You'll have to forgive them, they're only children. They can have the silliest responses to things sometimes."_

_"Nh," Sweden responded as Finland gently slid the door to the hallway shut and moved the tray from his hands to a nearby desk "It's 'lright."_

_"If you asked me I'd say you looked really cute today," Finland beamed and stepped closer to him "I hope you don't mind if I hug you, that reindeer sweater looks super soft and snuggly."_

_Before Sweden could really process what was going on Finland had his arms wrapped around him in a gentle hug. "Oh it IS soft!" Finland exclaimed as he nuzzled his face into it "So nice and soft. Thank you for making snacks! That was super sweet of you! I just know the kids will love them when they get back."_

_Sweden's arms were trembling as he returned Finland's hug. This was a complete reversal from previous encounters. Too much, couldn't process. Was enjoying, but could not comprehend. The only thought that was able to work its way through Sweden's mind was that he had a sudden desire buy about eight more of these sweaters._

_"Sweden?"_

"_Yah?"_

"_What would you like for Christmas? You've more than definitely earned your way onto the "nice" list this year, so feel free to ask for anything you want! …Just please not for one of those furby things. Those toys are __creepy__!"_

"_Hmm…" Sweden did his best to think while his insides were taking on the consistency of figgy pudding. Holy Helsinki did this ever feel fantastic! Finland felt so warm and soft as he snuggled up against him. How could he tell Finland that what he wanted for Christmas was for them to stay like this forever without totally freaking him out?_

"_I w'nt…" Sweden spoke slowly, choosing his words with the upmost caution "…t' always be cute…so ya won't be sc'red to hug me."_

_Oh shoot, too much. He'd definitely overdone it._

_Finland slowly lifted up his head to face Sweden. When their eyes met Sweden was stunned to see tears streaming down Finland's face._

"_Sweden…you're cute already," Finland said with a teary smile._

_Sweden didn't think he could be more shocked if Belarus decided to stop stalking Russia. Apparently his facial expression conveyed this sentiment, because a moment later Finland had let go of him and was shakily backing away._

"_I, I'm sorry Sweden. That was too much yah? You probably think I'm crazy. Maybe I should just run away so I don't freak ya out more-"_

"_No."_

_Sweden seized Finland by the shoulders and pulled him back into a hug. Finland buried his face into Sweden's sweater and put his arms around him again._

"_Pl'se don't r'n aw'y fr'm me. C'n…c'n I ask f'r s'meth'ng else f'r Chr'stm's?"_

"_Yah! Yah of course you can."_

"_W'll ya…" No Sweden, __don't__ bring up marriage this early on. You're going to freak him out again, start slower._

"_W'll ya…g' out with m'? Ev'n th'gh 'm…t'rrifying?"_

_Finland looked up at him with a face full of rosy blush and beamed "Yah! I'd be really happy to!"_

"_Mmm…" YAH THIS ROCKED! How was Sweden supposed to reply? _

"_Th'nk ya…" was the best Sweden could come up with._

"_And I don't think you're terrifying, by the way. I mean ya might've been at first but once I got to know ya and learned what a softy ya are, you're just terrifyingly adorable," Finland winked at him._

"…_once I got to know ya…"_

_Alright,_ Sweden decided as he returned from his happy flashback. He could do this, he'd done it before. He may look like a Magic 8 Ball, but he was still Sweden. If Finland really had been able to fall in love with him before because he was a "softy" behind all that scariness, then in theory it was possible for him to do it again, even though Sweden was in a different form.

Sweden would just have to take it slow. He had some damage control to do after screwing things up with his initial over-eagerness, but this could still work out. Finland was a sweetheart. Sweden knew he would give him a second chance…

…he just needed to make sure not to mess it up.

Sweden rolled to the back of the drawer and then launched himself at the front. There was the crackling sound of breaking duct tape outside. Dang, Finny really knew how to secure things. This would take a while, but he could do it. He just had to bust open this drawer and come out of the closet…


	4. Ballin'

**Hello gorgeous awesome readers! Thanks for supporting this wacky story. Thank you especially much to my glorious and nifty reviewers. Reviews are my favorite, you guys are rockin' the Christmas stockin's! Love all around!**

Finland's arms ached as he lugged another case of "Angry Birds" wrapping paper into his office. Half of his reindeer team had come down with hoof and mouth disease, so he had to work extra hard to wrap everybody's presents while his elf assistants tended to the sick animals.

"Come on Finny!" he encouraged himself as he set down the box, unrolled another sheet of wrapping paper and dragged a box of Kindle Fires next to him. "Christmas spirit can help you overcome lack of sleep! And when Christmas spirit runs low, you can always eat more sugar cookies!"

But sweet Finland could only substitute sleep with sugar for so long. A couple boxes later he had collapsed onto the office floor in a deep, dreamless slumber of exhaustion.

Sweden rolled into Finland's office to find the love of his life sprawled out over bunches of wrapping paper and unwrapped presents.

_Cute..._

Sweden's first inclination would be to roll over next to Finland's sleeping form and curl up beside him, but given the last impression of himself he'd left Finland with, this was probably NOT the best idea.

Instead Sweden hopped over (Who knows how he could hop? You would think it wouldn't be possible given the generally non-bouncy nature of Magic 8 Balls. Must be love. With love, anything is possible.) to the box of Kindles and gently pushed one box onto the floor. He rolled the wrapping paper back and nudged the Kindle box into the center of the paper.

Alright, so far, so good. Now for cutting it. After a rolling around over the scissors a few times with no results, he decided to abandon that strategy.

Hmm...how was he supposed to cut things like this? He stared at the wrapping paper with such intense concentration that the paper actually started to singe.

His super-stare laser-vision powers! He hadn't known that he would still be able to use them in this form. Perfect! They weren't at full strength because he didn't have his glasses to focus them, but they were enough to be a scissors-substitute.

It was a bit interesting that he was able to laser vision when he no longer technically had eyes, but whatever. He'd been turned into a Magic blinkin' 8 Ball. If his opposition could wield powers that were completely illogical, he should be able to also.

Besides, the love of his life needed help. And love in its highest form beats out logic every single time.


	5. All I want for Christmas is

Finland was chased away from sleep by a nightmare that took the form of a sugar cookie dressed like the grim reaper.

"**FINLAND**! THE LACK OF SLEEP AND UNHEALTHY EATING HAS FINALLY CAUGHT UP TO YOU! PREPARE TO DROWN IN THE LAKE OF EGGNOG AND BRIMSTONE THAT YOU HAVE PREPARED FOR YOURSELF!"

Finland woke up screaming "AIHH! No please! I was just trying to do my job and be a good Santa! Just let me live to see the end of this Christmas season so I can do my duty! Please, I swear by the gumdrop buttons on the gingerbread man I wasn't indulging for the fun of it!"

He stopped screaming when he realized that he was sprawled on the floor in the safety of his office. He sat up on his knees and breathed a sigh of relief.

Then he gasped as he beheld the pile of already wrapped presents in slightly singed packaging paper.

"Holy holly berries! How did this happen? I know I didn't have all this done before I went to sleep!"

A small black object slowly rolled out into the center of the room.

Finland squeaked in sheer fright and jumped straight up to the ceiling. He grabbed the light fixture and clung to it while shaking uncontrollably.

Then it clicked.

"Wait..." he stepped down from the ceiling to the top of his desk and peered down below at the small black sphere. "Little Magic 8 Ball, were ya the one who wrapped the presents for me?"

-Yah-

"Oh..." Finland wasn't sure whether to be grateful or terrified. He was kind of both. "Well that was very sweet of ya! I've had more work than I can deal with lately, so much that it has been affecting my health, so I really appreciate it."

-L'st I c'ld do aft'r...-

-…-

Finland blinked and turned his head to the side "After what Little Magic 8 Ball?"

-...aft'r sc'rin' ya.-

Finland would've smacked himself in the face with a Baltic herring had one been on hand. With a sad smile he stepped off of his desk and knelt down by the Magic 8 Ball.

-Pl'se f'rg've m'-

"Oh Magic 8 Ball, I should be the one asking forgiveness. I threw you off of Mount Halti, that wasn't very pleasant of me yah? And then I stuffed you in a closet drawer. And after all that you still helped me. I guess ya are a very sweet Magic 8 Ball after all."

-...-

"Magic 8 Ball, could we start over?"

-S'nds g'd-

"Alright then. Hello Magic 8 Ball! I'm Finland. I'm a friendly yet nervous country with a love of Christmas and a frightening talent with a sniper rifle."

-G'd t' m't ya-

"Since I'm Santa, it's my job to try and make everybody's Christmas wish come true. What is your wish Magic 8 Ball? I'll do my very best to try to make it happen."

-Hmm...-

-...-

-I w'nt...-

Finland cautiously assumed that the Magic 8 Ball was through with its saying-creepy-things-phase. It was acting pretty normal now; he really hoped it didn't make any awkward requests.

-...t' be y'r fr'nd.-

Hmm...that was a vastly more reasonable request than marriage. Having a Magic 8 Ball as a friend was a bit odd, but America was friends with an alien and England's friends were all invisible. So in relative comparison it probably wasn't all that weird.

-...'nd t' h'lp ya.-

_Aww..._ Finland could feel his heart melt like ice on a salty sidewalk.

There were tears welling up in Finland's eyes as he picked up the Magic 8 Ball and clutched it to his chest. "Of course I'll be your friend Magic 8 Ball! That's so sweet of you. Nobody has ever made a Christmas wish asking to help me before! It really means a lot!"

-...-

"Sorry," Finland wiped the tears from his eyes "I get emotional when I'm overly stressed. Crazy, yah? It's just so nice to have someone who wants to help me out when everyone else is just expecting things from me."

-Mmm...-

"Yah, I know, I ramble a lot yah? Ha ha ha! Sorry, my friends all tell me I'm quite the talker. I hope it doesn't bother you too much Little Friend."

-D'n't m'nd.-

-Ya n'd m're h'lp w'th y'r w'rk?

"Well..." Finland rubbed the back of his head sheepishly "If ya really want to help I could use a hand because I'm barely meeting a lot of these Christmas deadlines… if I'm meeting them at all."

- 'f c'rse-

Sweden was quite pleased with life as he hopped down the hallway alongside Finland, who was no longer absolutely terrified at the sight of him.

Objective achieved: Relationship status with Finland upgraded to "friend"

Friendship = +600 Agility

Finland = Adorable

Happy = V'ry yah


	6. It's The Thought That Counts

**Readers: I love you! Reviewers: I LOVE you even more! LOVE all around! Valentines for everybody, even Canada. Here Canada, here is an extra Valentine (since the world is cruel and always forgets to give you one), and some maple syrup to eat it with.**

**Finnish readers: I owe you an apology, your country had his Christmas tree up way too early in chapter 1! I didn't know ya'll didn't set it up until Christmas Eve. How do you fantastic people find time to put up your tree AND deliver presents to the entire world that night? Finnish people are amazing! Let's be buddies.**

**While on the note of apologizing to people, Swedish readers: Sorry for putting your ridiculously handsome country inside of a Magic 8 Ball. I only did it because I knew he was resourceful enough to find a way out. Swedes have such terrific progressive policies about gender and LGBT people! You are my heroes.**

With the Magic 8 Ball's assistance Finland had been able to get all the presents wrapped just a blink before the deadline. But now, as Finland stood in the snow looking at his fully-loaded sleigh, he had a different problem.

The half of his reindeer team that had hoof and mouth disease still hadn't recovered. Worse still, the virus had spread to the rest of the reindeer too, leaving Santa's sleigh completely immobilized.

"Well this sucks!" Finland concluded "Can't my reindeer have been afflicted by something easier to fix, like maybe a disagreement over whose prancing was the best or something? We worked so hard and my blood sugar levels have me qualifying as a borderline diabetic. I've just been trying to do my job! What a thing to ruin Christmas wi-"

The sound of bells interrupted Finland's lament. He looked up and saw his friend the Magic 8 Ball inside the reindeer's reins, spinning madly in an attempt to pull the sleigh forward. Despite the Magic 8 Ball's best efforts though, the sleigh didn't budge. The small toy was just digging itself into a deeper hole in the snow the harder it tried to move the sleigh for Finland.

_Aww..._

Finland put a hand over his liquefied heart. He walked over to where the small sphere was spinning and gently lifted it out of the snow.

- 'm s'rry. I failed ya.-

Finland shook his head. "No Little 8 Ball," he clutched the sphere tight against his chest "No ya didn't. I was feeling so stressed, sad and un-Christmas-like, but your kindness has brought my holiday spirit back. Thank you."

-Nh. W'sh I w's str'ng en'gh t' p'll 't.-

Finland patted the Magic 8 Ball reassuringly. "Don't worry about that. Worrying is my job, yah?" Finland smiled and looked up at the overcast sky. "Besides, since you gave me my Christmas spirit back, I can make my Christmas wish."

Finland closed his eyes and concentrated. _I wish for there to be a way for me to finish my job. Just a way for me to be able to get my sleigh up and spread some Christmas cheer. Please...the world really needs some cheer right now._

When Finland opened his eyes he found himself standing in a circle of green light. Then he glanced up and saw the most crazy-looking flying metal thing with a ridiculous smiling face sticking out the window.

"DUDES! What's up? Are you having a totally merry Christmas and everything? Dude, what's up with your sleigh?"

There was America, stepping down the boarding ramp of the UFO, still licking radioactive-blue frosting off his fingers.

"Do you totally need a lift dude? I have a hero complex and a spaceship so I am totally equipped to help you out!"

_...yah, I guess that works..._


	7. M' love is on fire

**This chapter featuring Sweden with most of his vowels back! (Thanks again for the pointers.)**

"Look here ya'll knuckleheads! I know it wasn't no weather balloon, it was a honky-tonky-badonkey-in' UFO! Even if it was a weather balloon, what the fanny-fried-okra was it doin' abducting Santa's sleigh in some kind of insane Star Trek tractor beam?

Ya'll gotta send out the American military and go find Santa, because I'm telling you that I looked out on Christmas Eve and there was Santa's sleigh being dragged along by a UFO! We gotta save Santa! What if the ones who abducted him were violent extraterrestrials? Or even worse, what if they were atheists?"

Finland sighed as he shut off the radio and shivered under a bushel of blankets in the corner of his office. Alright, so there had been a couple of negative repercussions to having America's spaceship pull the sleigh around a couple weeks ago. But they'd gotten the presents delivered, that was the important part.

At least they'd been able to stop America from causing massive amounts of property damage by crashing through windows like he had a few years back. It turns out the Magic 8 Ball's laser vision could also work as a laser pointer, so America spent the entire trip reverted to his chibi form and chasing the red dot of light in circles around the spaceship floor.

"I sure am glad my reindeer have finally recovered," Finland smiled "Although that veterinarian bill was really expensive. That's okay, I don't really need gas money. I mean home heating is way overrated, yah?" He shivered again and hugged the thin blankets closer.

Sweden was deeply distressed by this situation. Why did this form have to be so absolutely useless? If he was himself he could totally pay off Finland's heating bill for him like some sexy Swedish sugar daddy. Now all he could do was roll around and occasionally shoot the pipes with his laser vision to keep them from freezing.

Oh how Sweden wanted to do more! If only he could take the fiery love in his heart for Finland and use it to heat the house up...

...wait...

...maybe he could.

Sweden rolled over to Finland's side.

-Hold me.-

"What?"

-I know what 'm doing. Just hold me.-

"Umm, okay little friend! I guess that's fine." Finland picked the Magic 8 ball up and held it in his hands.

-Don't be afraid.-

"Eh-afraid? Wait, Magic 8 Ball, what are you-AIHH!" The Magic 8 Ball had suddenly been enveloped in turquoise flames.

-Won't burn ya.-

"AIHHH! Eh...aiheh..hey they don't burn..." Finland's anxiety left him as he brought the Magic 8 Ball closer to his face "This is really amazing!"

-Ya warmer now?-

"Yah! Much warmer, thanks little guy!" Finland clutched it closer to his chest and beamed "So ya can use laser vision AND you're a space heater?"

-I guess yah.-

"I've never had a friend that could do things like that!"

-Mmm...-

"Magic 8 Ball?"

-Yah?-

"What...I really hope this doesn't sound rude...what are ya?"

-...-

Why was it one of the stupid rules of this curse that Sweden couldn't tell him? Why did curses even have rules? Wasn't a curse by definition against the rules? How on earth was Sweden supposed to answer that?

-... 'm your friend.-

Finland smiled warmly at him "Yah, yah ya are," Finland gently tucked the small sphere into the blankets beside him.

"It feels like," Finland paused "Like I've known ya before...Like, I don't know, I must be crazy yah?"

-Mmm...- Who invented the rules for this curse? Sweden wanted to roll them flat and roast them.

"I'm sorry Magic 8 Ball. I guess my brain must still be defrosting. Here, let me put you on my head."

Sweden was very happy to find he was on Finland's mind.

Though if he ever encountered that curse-casting nimrod before he transformed back, he was going to make their next pool game the absolute worst they'd ever had.


	8. Take Me To Bed

**And now a rhyme of appreciation for my readers and reviewers**

**Thank you for reading**

**My tale of Finland and Sweden.**

**Your reviews make my life**

**As jolly as the Christmas season.**

**At the end of this story**

**True love will be found**

**Until then happy reading**

**And love all around!**

"Doo-wah. Mee-soo-nah-dah!"

Oh no, they'd returned for him.

"AIHH! THESE CRAZY FURBIES ARE GOING TO EAT MY FINNISH FANNY AND THEN KILL IT!" Finland shrieked as he fell out of bed and awoke with a thud.

"Oh good...that was the kind of dream I'm not sorry to wake up from." Finland let out a sigh of relief and slowly crawled back under the covers. "Just a dream yah? Nothing to be scared of. Who is scared? I'm not scared. I'm the mighty country of Finland...I'll be fine."

So Finland told himself while shaking like a cell phone on "vibrate" mode.

After a few minutes of jumping at every ambiguous creak he heard from somewhere in the house, Finland decided he'd had enough. With trembling legs he slipped on his fuzzy brown bear slippers, tossed his bath robe over his shoulders, and quietly crept out into the hall.

He opened his office door and saw the Magic 8 Ball perched on the corner of his desk.

-Good evening m' friend.-

"Hello Magic 8 Ball," Finland replied in a shivery voice as he picked the plastic toy up.

-You're shaking. What's wrong?-

"Oh, well...you know...I may or may not have just been traumatized by a nightmare about the return of the furbies. Ha ha ha! Silly, yah?"

-N't at all. That IS traumatizing.-

"Yah I know! A few years back the children of the world went crazy and all of them asked for a furby for Christmas. Scariest night of my life! I was so terrified that I had to ask someone to ride with me in the sleigh. The weird thing is…I don't remember even who was nice enough to ride with me. The memory must be so scary that my mind is blocking out the details. Crazy yah?"

Sweden's heart hopped onto a trampoline of tremendous joy. Sweden REMEMBERED that night! That was the December they'd first started going out.

That had been adorable. A couple of times Finland had been clutching him so tightly out of fright that Sweden had started to turn blue in the face…but that was fine. He'd gotten to have Finland's arms around him all night long. And then the next morning Finny was so worn out that all he wanted to do was sleep using Sweden's shoulder as a pillow.

Good times. Grand times. Times worth repeating. And Finland remembered it! The curse had probably made Finland forget that Sweden was the one riding next to him, but still! This was good! This was great! It was something to start from.

"Magic 8 Ball?"

-Yah?-

"Would you, um, mind terribly, spending the night with me? I know it probably sounds wimpy of me but I am really, really scared after that nightmare. I don't want to be alone!"

Was this a trick question?

-Wouldn't mind at all.-

"Thanks!" Finland replied with a relieved smile as he carried the Magic 8 Ball back to his bedroom "You're a great friend you know. You're always willing to help me out."

-Course. I love helping ya.-

"You don't have to do anything...It'll just be easier for me to sleep, I think, if I'm not in bed all by myself."

WHOA! Holy canned crayfish...was Finland meaning-?

Finland climbed under the covers and hugged the Magic 8 Ball tight against his chest. "Well, good night then Friend!"

...yes that was what he'd meant.

This was more than what Sweden had bargained for. He thought that Finland just wanted him to sit on the bedside table. Sweden didn't know he was signing up to be a teddy bear substitute.

Not that it was bad. No, not at all, just the opposite. It was good, far too good. If Sweden was a seismograph instead of a Magic 8 Ball he'd be drawing lines for an earthquake too large to rate on the Richter scale.

Meanwhile, he reckoned, Finland probably didn't feel anything. Finland probably just felt like he was curled up in bed holding a plastic sphere for comfort.

_Why?_ lamented Sweden silently as Finland's soft, perfect fingers held him against the fuzzy pajama fabric that was covering his love's chest. Why now of all times was he trapped in this absolutely ridiculous form? Why couldn't he have fingers to stroke Finland's silky hair? Why couldn't he have lips to cover Finland's face with kisses? Why couldn't he have a chest for Finland to rest his sweet head on? Why?

_WhywhywhywhywhyWHY?_

This form was not conducive to loving! This form wasn't conducive to anything! What if the spell couldn't be broken? What if Sweden was stuck in this ridiculous, unfitting form for the rest of his days?

Sure he could talk to Finland like this, but words could only say so much. How could Sweden ever show Finland how he really felt about him?

What if Finland found someone else who could show him love like that and left Sweden forever?

Maybe it was a good thing Magic 8 Balls couldn't sleep. Sweden shuddered to think of the kind of dreams he would have with worries like these running through his head. The nightmares would be far more frightening than furbies.


	9. Cheesy Dream Sequence Volume One

Finland found himself standing on a black, solid, slightly curved surface. He looked up and saw a kaleidoscope of lasers swirling into a rainbow pattern.

"Whoa!" he exclaimed "This is the coolest! This has to be the most magical landscape I've ever seen."

A sky-blue icosahedra rolled past with a herd of bleating cotton puffs hopping after it.

"...although, it's a little weird."

He stepped farther onto the dreamscape, which featured more and more elaborate rainbow laser patterns as he traveled on.

"So…this is cool, yah? Although after walking around for a bit I'm starting to think that I really have no idea where I'm going. I kind of wish there was a ma-AIHH!"

Iron bars shot up from the ground, welding themselves together to form a cage around an extremely freaked-out Finland as sirens blared in the background.

A giant monitor appeared above Finland's head displaying words in an intimidating red glowing font.

INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT!

Finland squeaked as multiple red dots of light appeared on his torso.

INTRUDER CONTAINED. ANALYZING INTRUDER IDENTITY

"No! Ya don't understand, I was just lost and-"

STILL ANALYZING INTRUDER IDENTITY. WHEN IDENTITY IS DETERMINED, PROCEED TO TAKE COURSE OF ACTION THAT IS MOST CONDUCIVE TO MAINTAINING POLITICAL NEUTRALITY.

…IDENTITY MATCH: FINLAND

…**FINLAND**?!

The red lights vanished and the iron bars were replaced with swarms of lovely butterflies. The monitor remained, though the font color had changed to a mellow blue.

FINLAND = GOOD

FINLAND = NICE

FINLAND = CUTE + SWEET + ADORABLE

"Umm…" Finland was unsure whether to be relieved or more terrified than ever "…thank ya?"

FINLAND = _AWW…_

Alright…this was getting more than a little awkward.

"Yah…anyways…" Finland slowly started to back away. "So maybe I should just, umm…"

FINLAND = LOVE = HUG

HUG = +800 STAMINA

COMMENCING OPERATION "HUG FINLAND"

Before Finland could fully comprehend the situation the monitor had dissolved into a cloud of sparkles and a tall blonde stranger had materialized out of thin air before wrapping him into a hug.

"Eeek!" Finland squeaked in understated terror until he realized that the feeling of this particular hug was exactly like slipping into a steam bath…only about 800 times better.

His shivering stopped as he found himself melting into the snuggly stranger's embrace. Was this even a stranger? No…couldn't be a stranger, otherwise Finland would be screaming his lungs inside out. Finland didn't even let good friends hold him this close or this long. This person had to…had to be…

Finland had no idea. That's okay, it was a dream. He didn't have to have any idea. Slowly he wrapped his arms around the stranger's neck and rested his head on the mysterious man's chest.

"I am definitely glad I met ya tonight," Finland said as he smiled and closed his eyes. "The rest of my night has been pretty scary, but this is quite pleasant."

The stranger nodded.

"Ya wouldn't mind if we stayed like this 'til I woke up, would ya?"

Sweden shook his head. Why couldn't he speak? And how had Finland's dream-self stumbled into Sweden's soulscape? Was this what would happen whenever Finland fell asleep holding Sweden's sphere-shaped prison cell? So he was wordless in one world and shape-shifted in the other?

"That's wonderful news," Finland sighed in a sleepy voice as his head leaned further into Sweden's chest. "Good night Snuggly Stranger Man."

Sweden shut down the inquiring part of his mind and just melted into the moment.

OPERATION "HUG FINLAND" = SUCCESSFUL


	10. Mistakes

Finland sighed wistfully as he rested his head on one hand while absentmindedly stirring his cereal with the other.

"Oh Magic 8 Ball, I just had the most fantastic dream last night."

-Yah?-

"Yah...there was this strange rainbow laser world thing that tried to put me in a cage, but then this monitor appeared and started saying all these sweet things to me. But the best part..." Finland's face wore a silly smile "...was this snuggly mystery man..."

-Really?-

"Really...I don't remember too much about what he looked like, just that he was tall, blonde and...I think he had glasses."

-I see...-

"But what I DO remember is what he felt like. His arms were like a blanket woven out of the wool of wondrous love. Resting my head on his chest...was like returning home to a place I'd never been before."

-Hmm...-

Finland then felt a twinge of guilt. He remembered that when he first met the Magic 8 Ball it had professed its love to him. The poor thing worked ridiculously hard every day to help Finland out. And now Finland was probably trampling on the Magic 8 Ball's feelings by rambling on about this mysterious dream guy.

"Ah...anyways! Sorry for going on about that. It's probably not something ya want to hear about. I'm sorry Little Friend."

-What? Of course I do.-

"Are ya sure?" The Magic 8 Ball might have just been being polite.

-Yah! Tell me more.-

-...unless ya don't care to...-

The silly smile returned to Finland's face. "He had the most wonderful hands. They were strong and kind of calloused...like they'd been working a lot, ya know? But they were so warm and gentle..."

Well this was a splendid start to Sweden's day. He'd never heard Finland this gushy and poetic before. Even when they'd been dating back before this crazy curse affair. Finland had been sweet and complementary towards him and whatnot, but never had he cruised down this Mushiness Mainstreet before.

Sweden guessed he could understand. He said quite a few sweet things to Finland back in the day...but he often held a lot back for fear of frightening Finland off by overdoing it.

Maybe Finland was the same way?

In any case, it was a mistake Sweden now vowed to never repeat once the spell broke. Being embarrassed because you're saying things so overly sweet it'd make a sugar plum fairy sick was not nearly as bad as having all the loving words in the world to say and no way to say them.

"Ya know Magic 8 Ball...you're a really kind friend to me," Finland smiled sadly as he looked down at his now soggy cereal "You're always helpful, you're the best listener...I'm really very lucky to have met ya. And even more lucky that ya decided to stick around."

-The luck is mine.-

Finland shook his head "No Magic 8 Ball...I think you're wrong about that."

-My sources say 'm right.-

"Hey! Now you're just being silly!"

-Reply hazy. Ask again later.-

"Oh fine! Ya act funny like that and I'll give ya to the people who write horoscopes for the world newspaper."

-Not horoscopes. Those are drunk texts from Germany.-

"Really? Huh...and now suddenly it makes a lot more sense why my horoscopes recommend that I sleep naked in a pile of bratwursts."


	11. World Tour

**Thanks again for reading! Your reviews give me + 800 morale all the time. Love all around!**

Finland left to run some errands that day, leaving the Magic 8 Ball free to plan out their next fantastic evening in the romantic setting of Sweden's soulscape. Finland had mentioned to Sweden before he left that he'd really enjoy it if the "mysterious snuggly stranger" would take him on a tour of the wondrous world he'd wandered into.

Hmm...Sweden couldn't get the monitor working again. And he knew he couldn't talk in the soulscape setting. There was no way he could give Finland a guided tour.

...but he could summon up someone else to do the talk-through for him.

It was time for...

THE INTERNATIONAL TOUR GUIDE AUDITION COMPETITION!

"Dude! This really cool tour comes with bucketloads of free ice cream and chocolate dipped cheeseburgers!"

Sorry America, Finland's blood glucose levels were still recovering from the sugar cookie storm back during December. Sweden wanted to make this a night worth dying for, but not a night that would leave Finland actually dead.

"You arrived at the tour ten milliseconds late! You must now do 80 laps in an Olympic-sized pool filled with beer and then jump through eighty rings of fire."

While swimming did sound like a fun idea, the only flame Sweden wanted to light that night was the affectionate fire of love and affection. No go Germany.

"All you need is some candlelight and fine wine, then you and your lover can paint this laser-lined sky a new type of rainbow with every brushstroke of breathless lovemaking…"

Forget it France. Save that kind of talk for England. Huh, England…maybe he would be a good tour guide.

"Now please excuse me while I briefly interrupt this tour to colonize everything here that doesn't already have my flag on it."

…Maybe not.

"Here is a blue icosahedra surrounded by a cloud of lovely butterflies. Oh don't mind the baby turtle swarm. They love me! I'm the Turtle God! Here, let me give you this t-shirt about the time our king told Hugo Chavez to shut up. Want to see some baby pictures of Chibi Romano?"

Baby turtles did have the cuteness appeal. He almost chose Spain solely for the opportunity to see Finland with baby turtles climbing all over him. But what if Romano learned that Spain was showing his baby pictures to people and then interrupted the tour with a swearing fit? That'd be a mood killer. Sweden would just have to keep searching.

**WINNER TO BE REVEALED NEXT CHAPTER! **

"…and that's when I had to start locking up all of mochi-Italy's food in a bulletproof safe to keep mochi-America from squirting it with this dreadful combination of neon-blue frosting and ketchup," Estonia explained as he and Finland sat at a picnic table sipping ice cold glasses of kali.

"That's a crazy story!" Finland responded before taking another sip of his drink.

"I guess. Anyways, anything crazy happening to you Finland?"

"Ah, well…" blush lines blossomed across Finland's face "I did have this _wonderful_ dream lest night."

Estonia blinked "So…who did you meet is this wonderful dream?"

"Oh he was this most _spectacular _guy…"

"_He", "guy" …right._ Well this didn't really surprise Estonia all that much. He'd had an inkling that Finland's sexual orientation was a bit special after seeing the horror flick Finny produced featuring the horde of running naked Santas.

"Also, this morning I learned that the "horoscopes" in the world newspaper are actually printed versions of drunk texts from Germany."

"How did you learn that?"

"My Magic 8 Ball friend told me this morning at breakfast. Crazy yah?"

"Umm…very…" Estonia frowned. Magic 8 Ball? Like the one Estonia had found on Finland's doorstep in December?

Come to think of it, Estonia had found it a little odd that Finland's first response upon seeing the toy was to throw it.

Making friends with an inanimate toy was more than a little odd. Maybe he should ask around and see if anyone else had noticed that Finland was a bit out-of-sorts recently.


	12. Cheesy Dream Sequence Volume Two

"And don't forget at the end of the tour to visit the gift shop for some wicked hipster Viking accessories. Now come follow me and my totally awesome pony friends to our first stop."

As they rode behind Poland's ponies on a Clydesdale with blue and yellow zebra stripes, Sweden was positive he'd made the right choice for the tour guide. Was there any more romantic or environmentally friendly way to tour a place than with a trail ride?

"Yo, so check this out. It's totally a museum about a disco group called ABBA. Now you may not know this, but their song 'Dancing Queen' was like totally a tribute to me and how so way fabulous I am."

Although Poland's facts may have been a bit off.

"And then there's these massage hotels. They like totally built them because they wanted to specifically see me shirtless and lying face down on the table. Can you blame them though? I mean I'm so way the personification of sex appeal. Every other country totally made up a sauna tradition for the exact same reason."

...Or a lot off.

"Yo, you guys should see the bikini thong I'm wearing. It totally has Lithuania's face printed on it."

Whoa! No, not acceptable. Wasn't Poland supposed to be shy towards strangers?

It was time to use the emergency "Relocating Poland" strategy.

"No really, it's like so way awesome. Oh hey! Liet! I should seriously show you first. Check out my totally hipster undies Bro-ski!"

Finland looked on with no small degree of confusion as Poland ran off after Lithuania, leaving him and the mysterious stranger alone in the rainbow-filled, environmentally harmonious surreal setting.

"Ha ha! So that was pretty funny yah? I guess one can always count on some laughs whenever ya bring that guy into the mix."

The stranger didn't respond as he helped Finland down from the Clydesdale's back. The moment Finland's feet touched the ground the two were transported to a rocky shoreside. The moonbeams made the spray of the ink black ocean gleam like showers of sparks.

"Ah! Pretty! This reminds me a lot of my place," Finland beamed as he snuggled up against the stranger's warm body. "Thank ya for taking me here! I like this a whole lot."

The stranger nodded in response as he wrapped his arms around Finland's waist, shielding the smaller man from the chilly sea breeze.

For one reason or another Finland's mind wandered back to Poland...and memories...really random memories...

"So ya want to hear a crazy story?"

The stranger nodded.

"Back a long time ago I lived doing a bunch of crummy work at Mr. Denmark's house. So did this other guy...I don't remember who...but one day he snapped and ran away, so I followed him yah? And then the first thing the next day he goes and asks Poland to give him Estonia and Latvia. Ha ha! Ya should've seen the look on Poland's face. It was priceless! Isn't that a crazy story? It sure seemed crazy at the time..."

Finland sighed and rested his head on the stranger's shoulder. "I just wish I could remember who it was...it actually makes me a little worried that I can't remember something as eventful as that."

Sweden's heart was pounding as he held Finland in his arms. So close...Finny was so extremely close to putting it all together...

The air rippled. Slowly a dark purple, semi-transparent curtain materialized just centimeters behind Finland's back. On the other side Sweden started to see clips of scenes and snapshots...all containing himself in some way or another.

_Finland's memories of us..._

Without a moment's hesitation Sweden reached forward and tugged at the curtain.

The instant he did this two things happened. The curtain instantly became ablaze with lime green lightning bolts and Finland shrieked in pain.

"GAH!" Finland gasped and let go of Sweden, seizing his head with both hands.

Sweden immediately released the curtain, shocked and horrified at the effect of his actions. The purple curtain and the green lightning bolts dissipated, but Finland's hands were still clasped to his head and tears of agony were streaming down his face.

"That was painful! That was really painful! It felt-" Finland's arms wrapped around him again and he started sobbing into Sweden's shirt.

Sweden had never felt worse in his life than now. With trembling hands he tried to dry the tears from Finland's face…tears he was responsible for. Curse it all! He'd done the complete opposite of what he wanted to do. Perhaps he should just vanish entirely. Maybe that was the best way he could protect Finland from pain and unhappiness.

"I'm sorry," Finland sniffled "It just suddenly felt like…like just realizing that the thing most precious to me in the world had disappeared. That was such an empty feeling, so terrible…

…but ya know, it's not the first time I've felt like this…"

Sweden put his vanishing plans on pause temporarily.

"It randomly started happening to me ever since two Christmas season's ago. I'll just suddenly feel this terrible loss…a loss that I can't remember but that still kills me inside. I haven't told anyone about it though…not even my best friend the Magic 8 Ball."

Relationship with Finland has been upgraded from "friend" to "best friend".

"Best friend" = + 200,000 morale

Operation "Vanishing Sweden" terminated.

So Finland had been feeling the loss as well. That settled it then. Tomorrow night the spell would be broken. Tomorrow night Sweden would set things up so that they couldn't possibly fail. Screw the rules about taking things too fast, that spell had to break and it was going to break then!

Tomorrow, Sweden decided, tomorrow night was the night of the kiss that would heal both of them and make this accursed curse a thing of the past.

But not tonight.

"Hey Bro-skillets! Come check it before ya wreck it! I got Liet to wear underwear with my face on it. We look so totally stunning."

No, definitely not tonight.


	13. Rumors reach Russia

"Hmm…I guess Liet isn't in right now," Estonia shrugged as he turned and walked off Lithuania's doorstep. "That's alright, maybe I can talk to someone else who might know something about how Finland is doing."

Estonia pulled his eyes up from the ground and shrieked. Not because he saw Lithuania walking up his own sidewalk, but because he saw Lithuania walking up his own sidewalk wearing nothing but a thong and accompanied by Poland in a similar state of undress.

"Umm…" Lithuania turned the same shade of wicked hipster pink that Poland's walls were painted "I can explain-"

Estonia frantically waved his hands in front of him "No! It's quite alright! I shouldn't have tried to come over without calling first. I'll come back when you're not, um, having somebody stay the night…"

"ESTONY THE BRONY!" Poland waved "What's up playa? No worries dude, I'm not even staying the night. Liet just had me come over so we can take some wicked awesome pictures of ourselves like this."

"I promise that's not what it sounds like," Lithuania squeaked in a small voice.

"Eh? What do you mean dude? What's it even supposed to sound like? Anyways, what are you doing here so totally late Estonia? Shouldn't you be home feeding your mochies?"

"Well…" Oh gosh, they were wearing underwear with each other's faces on it even. Estonia hoped mochi America hadn't used up all the house bleach by trying to turn it into another food condiment. Estonia would need it for his brain.

"I uh, just came to see if you might know anything about Finland acting unusual lately," although this all made Finland's newfound friendship with a Magic 8 Ball seem relatively normal.

"Hmm…" Lithuania pondered "Actually, now that you mention it…"

"Yeah dude! We totally just saw him in this weird rainbow-skied place with some scary looking blonde guy riding a zebra-striped Clydesdale. I only know this because the scary looking blonde guy hired me to be a tour guide because I'm so totally a hipster."

"Oh dear…" Estonia replied, his fears for Finland increasing exponentially.

"Vhat's this about Finland?" asked a soft, purring voice from the shadows.

Everybody jumped and huddled together in terror as Russia stepped out of the bushes.

"Oh? Not vanting to share with me about it?" Russia frowned "So sad, first you move out and now ve never talk anymore."

"Yo, I think we should totally take those pictures another time. Later Liet!" Poland hopped onto one of his ponies and was gone in a flash, leaving Lithuania and Estonia alone to deal with Russia.

"Vat is happening vith Finland?" Russia asked again, receiving only frightened faces as a reply.

"I see," Russia smiled "Vell no vorries…sure as snowfall I vill find out." He pulled out a cell phone and started dialing.

"Oh and by the vay," Russia turned back to face Lithuania "Not the best choice of undervear my friend. The ones all of you vore vith the Soviet Flag pattern back in the day vere a lot better." He slipped back into the shadows.

_Finland…_Estonia thought with dread in his heart _I am so sorry. If you weren't in trouble before, you are now. This wasn't what I wanted to happen at all._

**Reader dudes: I love all of you! I couldn't ask for a more fun or fantastic audience. I'm leaving on vacation to Florida with my family today, so my updates may become less frequent since I must share the internet. **

**Also, my family members are all sweethearts, but they don't all approve of gay relationships, so it'll be a trick finding times to write when their curious eyes aren't fixated on my computer screen. But I will still write and update as often as I can. I think about this story almost every waking minute, and in the romantic setting of Florida you can bet I'll be thinking of it even more and writing it whenever I can.**

**Love all around!**


	14. Cheesy Dream Sequence Volume Three

**Dudes I love you! Florida is fantastic, and I'm really glad I had the chance to write this up and post it. I love doing this, and I'll try to still do it at least at once a day if I can. If not, at least ya'll know why. LOVE ALL AROUND!**

Finland found himself standing on the floor of an empty ballroom. Glittering ice sculptures of snowflakes lined the walls, and in the middle of the floor stood a fountain of rainbow falls that bathed the space around it with a glowing pink light.

"Oh goodness-"

Somewhere in the background, music started to play.

"_You're my first..._

_My last..._

_My everything…"_

Finland felt someone put a hand on his shoulder.

"_And the answer to_

_All my dreams..."_

Finland turned around to see his mysterious snuggly stranger, snazzily dressed in a shiny blue tuxedo with a hand outstretched towards him.

"You...you want me to dance with ya?"

The stranger nodded.

"Ah! This is so sweet! Yah of course I will!"

Finland took the stranger's hand and followed him to the middle of the dance floor.

"_You're my sun..._

_My moon..._

_My guiding star..."_

Sweden's face was burning as he put his hand on Finland's waist. This was so cheesy, this was so completely cheesy. There was no way this could work. What had Sweden been thinking?

Then Finland put his hand on Sweden's shoulder and smiled at him. "This is the cutest thing! Your interior designing skills are amazing!"

"_My kind of wonderful..._

_That's what you are."_

Well...as long as Finland liked it. They started stepping back and forth, into that awkward sort of shuffle done by people who don't really have a clue about how to slow dance.

That was alright. Even if they'd known how to dance, Sweden was so entranced by how the rainbow glow reflected off of Finland's bright brown eyes that he'd likely trip if he tried to focus on anything else.

_Cute..._

"_I know, there's only_

_Only one like you."_

_Now, how do I get him to kiss me?_

"_There's no way_

_They could have made two."_

Finland was swimming in the stare of the stranger's deep blue eyes when his partner stopped dancing and stood still.

"Eh? Is something wrong?"

Without a word the stranger placed a hand on Finland's cheek. Finland's heart took off like a speeding snowmobile as those warm, strong fingers started stroking the side of his face.

Finland sighed as he closed his eyes and leaned into the stranger's caresses. Ah, the feeling was lovely! Too lovely… was this really all happening in his head?

"_Yeah you're my reality..._

_But I'm lost in a dream..."_

_I want to kiss him…but…should I? I mean I only met him two nights ago, and outside of my dreams he doesn't even exist! Besides, how would the Magic 8 Ball feel about it? _

But the tenderness of the stranger's touch was getting the best of him. The part of Finland that wanted to fight it was drowning in a Baltic Sea of bliss as their faces were starting to slowly come closer together.

"_You're my first..._

_You're my last..."_

Finland leaned forward and pressed his lips against those of the tall, mysterious stranger.

"_My everything..."_

The ice sculptures exploded into a dazzling array of fireworks and the Barry White song switched to Dj Sammy.

"_We're in heaven..."_

The fireworks continued as the kiss grew deeper. Sweden placed his other hand on the back of Finland's head and gently slid his fingers through that silky blonde hair. That song was lying, heaven had nothing on this awesomeness. He'd best pull back now so the spell could break…but once the transformation was reversed Sweden would be more than willing to go right back at it.

Sweden gently pulled his face away and closed his eyes, waiting to feel the walls of his sphere-shaped prison to explode around them. It'd be wonderful…Finland would wake up and find the man he'd been kissing in his arms instead of a Magic 8 Ball. And then the memories would come back and they could get married and be in love and all this heartache and craziness would at last be done with, all of it.

Everything was going to be alright again… Sweden's heart soared as he felt the world around them fill with bright silvery-white sunshine. This must be it! This must be the transformation coming undone.

"That had to be the most fantastic dream I've ever had in my life! Oh, hello Magic 8 Ball. How ya doing this morning?"

**WHAT?**

The spell wasn't broken? No, no this couldn't be right…

Right or not, that's how it was. The sun was up, Finland was there looking like all kinds of adorable as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and Sweden was…

…an 8 ball.

-HUAH?!-

"Eh? Hey, what's a matter Little Friend? Ya doing okay?"

-…-

8 Ball Mode = Bad

8 Ball Mode = Can't hug Finland

8 Ball Mode = Can't protect Finland

8 Ball Mode = Basically can't do anything

Can't hug, protect or do anything for Finland = Strong dislike

Therefore,

Sweden = Strongly dislikes 8 Ball Mode

_Looks like I've got a phone call to make._


	15. Crisis Hotline

"Hey! You've reached a Sir Roman Empire, how can I make your life better today?"

"It's me, Sweden."

"Sweden my friend! The romantic martyr under a spell just like a fairy tale or something, how are you?"

"Finland just kissed me."

"Oh yeah! I saw that! I watched it right here on my dead-person camera that shows me everything that everyone alive is doing. Way to go! Great set up with the rainbow fountain, it was a very romantic. I'll have to call my grandson later and give him the advice to try that on Germany, the posters he made a while back did not work so well."

"Why didn't the spell break?"

"Yeah, yeah about that. So, it's like this my friend, let me tell you about it…

So when he a kissed you he was a dreaming, yes?"

"Yah."

"Well uh see, that's the problem. You can't just have him a kiss you when you're in the dream world looking all a like your sexy self…you have to get him to kiss you in the real world when you're looking like a…like a…"

"Like a Magic 8 Ball?"

"Yeah, when you're looking a little less than sexy, yes."

"Why?"

"It's because it needs to be a kiss of a true love, you know? Finland has to want to kiss you because of your personality and what you are on the inside, you know what I'm saying? So subconscious steamy kissing fantasies, that's like a great, but it's not going to break the spell."

"..."

"Yeah I know, it's not how I would set it up either. If these things were up to me I would say to Finland 'Good job kissing the sexy man, here's your fiancé back, now go make love together in a giant pile of pasta or something.'"

"..."

"But I'm not the rule maker. I just sit here in dead people land and try to help out people with your kind of problems the best I can while strumming my stringed instrument and wishing there were more attractive deceased women for me to hook up with."

"So last night...didn't accomplish anything..."

"Hey no! I wouldn't say that. You may not have broken the curse but you did make Finland extremely happy. I mean look at him."

Outside the sphere-shaped prison Sweden could see Finland rolling around in his bed while hugging a large pillow and singing "I...saw myself kissing someone beautiful...by the rainbow fountain late last night..." to the tune of "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus".

_Cute..._

"That's a good point," Sweden conceded "I do love seeing m' wife happy. But how am I supposed to make him happy like this? I look ridiculous."

"No you- well, actually…yes. To be honest you do look a pretty ridiculous. But that doesn't a mean you can't make Finland happy or do something romantic for him."

"Who would want an 8 Ball to do something romantic for them?"

"Hey! Hey now don't be so pessimistic. Wouldn't you love Finland if he suddenly turned into a Magic 8 Ball?"

"Of course. I'd love Finland no matter what. He's m' wife…almost…"

"So what makes you think he's any different? True love comes from the soul my friend. If you can show him the pure love in your heart, then he will love you no matter how ridiculous you look. That's how true love works!"

"Is it?"

"Actually, I don't really know. I'm a Sir Roman Empire! I never had time for true love, I was a too busy getting busy. So many women always wanted me out of my clothes and into their bed sheets that eventually I just started wearing a bed sheet all the time and called it a toga!"

"…"

"But anyways, yes. So you can either work the personality angle or hope that Finland develops a kinky fetish for fortune telling devices, whatever gets you kissed my friend. Farewell!"


	16. Finland Fluffy Feeling Factor

Finland was red in the face with laughter as he sat across the table from the Magic 8 Ball.

"I can't believe that's the history behind the toga trend! That's so silly. How do ya find these things out? You're in a league all your own Magic 8 Ball."

_If only you weren't out of my league…_ Sweden thought sadly as he watched Finland reach forward and pull the vase of blue flowers closer.

"I can't stop looking at these flowers ya gave me…that was so sweet of ya! Nobody has ever given me flowers before."

-Nh…- The forget-me-nots were a bit charred at the ends (guess that's what happens when one cuts stems with laser vision) and despite Sweden's best efforts some of the petals had fallen off when he rolled them onto Finland's doorstep.

-Glad it makes you happy.-

"It makes me extremely happy, thank ya!" Finland gave him a warm smile.

_Cute…_

-That's good…-

Suddenly some combination of Finland's cuteness and stir-crazy desperation caught a hold of Sweden and caused him to blurt out-

-…because you're everything happy in the world to me, Finland.-

The insanity-induced courage fled from Sweden as Finland let go of the vase, folded his hands and stared down at the table.

"Magic 8 Ball…I…I don't know…"

MEANWHILE, IN THE AMAZING MIND OF FINLAND:

Magic 8 Ball = Darling

Magic 8 Ball = Kind

Magic 8 Ball = Pure hearted and loving

Magic 8 Ball's Personality = Finland's most favorite ever

However

Magic 8 Ball ≠ Sexy

Mystery dream guy = Sexy

But

Sweetness = More important than sexy

Magic 8 Ball = + Infinity Sweetness Points

Therefore

Finland's feelings for the Magic 8 Ball = …

…=…

?


	17. Bad news and bad news and bad news

**I appreciate everybody's support for this story. These next few chapters will be trying ones for our heroes, but you all must trust me that this story has a happy ending. Remember that, no matter how bad things seem to get, everything will end well. Just trust me on this.**

"Hey dudes! You're like watching America World News. And now for our shortest segment, the segment about not-America. Usually it's our most boring segment because it's not about me, the hero, but tonight this news is actually way interesting!"

"Umm, actually the show is called 'North American World News'...and I don't mean to be rude but I couldn't help but notice that you forgot to introduce me as your co-host...again..."

"And here's Canada, my brother who sells cheap prescription drugs and smokes maple leaves." America swiveled his chair to face the camera, star-spangled sparkles trailing behind him as he spun.

"So now for like breaking news- So Finland and his Magic 8 Ball friend were chillin' in their cold house with all the penguins and stuff-"

"Actually…" Canada piped up from the other side of the set "… penguins live in the south pole, not the north-"

"Yeah whatever. And then Russia came barging in with all of his special forces dudes because he's a total jerk-wad who won't let me have any of his adopted babies!"

"Err...brother? We're journalists...we're supposed to be professional and objective in our news reporting..."

"Yeah yeah, I decided I wanted to break that rule and go all 'Fox News' style tonight, only maybe I'll actually get more than half my facts correct. As I was saying, they were like sitting at their table with penguins and stuff when all of their windows exploded at once and all these Russian special forces dudes came running in."

"Umm…yes…" Canada glanced over uneasily at his starry-eyed brother and continued the report "…An arrest was made by Russia on the grounds that he claims Finland is quote "mentally unstable and dangerous". Russia is defending these claims by saying that Finland's new-found friendship with a Magic 8 Ball is a sign that Finland has, quote "misplaced his Merry-Christmasing-marbles""

_"Obviously the magic eight ball is a source of very dangerous black magic. Ve are doing this for Finland's own protection. Ve're just keeping him here in our psychiatric vard until ve can help him overcome this dark and threatening influence."_

Canada continued speaking after the clip, confused as to why his brother America had just run offset, but also, to be honest, extremely relieved.

"Officials report that the Magic 8 Ball was at first able to fend off the Russian forces by using its laser vision to blind them. This allowed Finland to time to pull his sniper rifle off the wall. However, when Finland attempted to use the sniper rifle, he found that he was unable to fire it due to the fact someone had stuffed the barrel full of pasta."

/

"Wah?!" Italy sobbed as Germany buried his face under a throw pillow with embarrassment "I didn't mean to make Santa's life harder! I just wanted to give him pasta as a 'thank you' present for being such a nice person..."

"But why the fuehrer would you put 'thank you pasta' in a place like that?"

"I wanted it to be a surprise!"

"Well we're surprised all right! Who is supposed to give me dirty magazines for Christmas now?"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

/

"The laser fire continued, however it was rendered ineffective when Mr. Russia himself entered the scene wearing laser-proof goggles. Russian forces were then able to overtake Finland and his 8 Ball friend and place them in custody. The exact location of where the two are being held is still unknown."

"NOT FOR LONG!" America flew back onto the set wearing a spandex suit "I'm the hero! I just flew over my legislative branch and am ready to fly over to commie-land and singlehandedly start a war and then leave it halfway through because I have a short attention span-LASER POINTER!?"

Russia smiled at the video footage of America running around the set in circles chasing the small red dot.

"Vorks every time, though I have you and your 8 ball friend to thank for giving me that idea," Russia turned from the hospital room TV to smile at Finland.

"How the Helsinki did ya find out about that?! Ya weren't even there last Christmas Eve!"

"I have spies everywhere, don't you know?"

"That's creepy Mr. Russia! All of this is really, really creepy!"

"Relax my friend. It's actually not creepy, it just appears that vay because you've been influenced by the dark magic emitting from the Magic 8 Ball. But don't vorry, ve'll help ya through these problems."

"I don't have problems! And how dare ya accuse my friend the Magic 8 Ball of using black magic?! He's a sweetheart!"

"Ah yes, denying that a problem exists is just one of the many signs that the problem is serious. Don't vorry, ve'll help you regardless of vether or not you appreciate it. And in the meantime…maybe you could help us vith some things…"

"I'll never agree to help ya! Give me my friend back!"

"No problem, you don't need to agree to help us. Ve'll just help ourselves…I vas just thinking that ve haven't tested the potency of our smallpox stocks on a human subject in a vhile…"

Finland's eyes bulged out of his head "WHAT? Ya want to give me smallpox?! Why would ya do something like that? The people that disease didn't kill were often scarred for life! All sane humans are in agreement that smallpox is a trend that should never ever EVER come back in style!"

Russia laughed "That's funny, I had heard many people say the same thing…" the room darkened at the snap of his fingers "…about furbies…"

Finland's jaw dropped "No… no please don't tell me…"

"Doo-wah!"

"**AIHHHH!"** The volume of Finland's scream shattered everything glass in the room.

Russia giggled as he started walking towards the exit. "I'll leave you vith some furbish friends to keep you company vhile I go get the smallpox ready. До свидания,Finland…"


	18. Love is the bomb

"Ay-ay...ah-tah..." the furbies purred in unison as the horde started stepping forwards Finland, who was secured to the wall of the hospital room with a straitjacket.

"No! No please! Don't come any closer! I'm fragile and probably about to die of smallpox anyways! Actually death by smallpox sounds really, really good right now in relative comparison!"

"Doo-ay...dah-ee-tah..."

"Look! I don't speak Furbish so I really don't know if you're asking my favorite color or requesting very personal information about what is inside my holly berry boxer shorts...but whatever you're saying I would really appreciate it if ya would say it to me from a farther distance...like maybe on the other side of the world teleconferencing or something. Better yet, how about ya just don't say anything to me at all?"

"Ah, ah-may...doo-moh?"

"I can't help but get the vibe that the last request of yours was somewhat less than decent."

The furby-horde's eyes all closed halfway and began swirling.

"Me...CHANGING!" Random images of cows, cherries, cloverleaves and screwdrivers scrolled through the furbies' pupils like slot machines.

"Oh no, no no no no..." Finland shook his head "Ya need to all stop that right now or it's automatic 'naughty list' for all of ya for at least the next five years."

The slot-machine scrolling stopped. The furbies' eyes opened, now all containing pupils that resembled malice-filled commas.

"Dah-noh-lah." Sunglasses materialized on the furbies' faces as they started making a mad dash across the room.

"AIHH!" Finland shrieked, coherent words no longer sufficient to express his terror. Their glowing eyes were coming straight at him like headlights on a truck hurtling towards a trapped dear on the roadside-

-until a speedy black blur flashed past and knocked all the furbies over like bowling pins.

"AIH-huh? Holy canned crayfish I can hardly believe it!"

Finland's eyes were ablaze with amorous admiration sparkles as the Magic 8 Ball proceeded to roll down the advancing swarm before frying them all into smoldering piles of fur with his laser vision.

"My hero!" Finland sighed wistfully as the Magic 8 Ball singed off the restraints holding Finland to the wall. "Oh 8 Ball," Finland took the small sphere up into his arms once he was free "Ya really are magic, aren't ya?"

-Only because your eyes cast a spell on me.-

"8 ball..." Finland felt tears rise to his eyes as he stared deep into the answer circle as if it contained the answer to all of his life's questions...

...because, Finland now realized, it did.

"Magic 8 Ball?"

-Yah?-

"I...I just realized, I don't need to fall asleep to find my dream guy. All of my heart's wishes are right here in my hands. I'm sorry, I was going to say so, but then a bunch of Russians came storming through the window right after the chapter cut off."

A bright pink heart appeared on answer circle and the Magic 8 Ball started shifting through the rainbow color spectrum.

-...Really?-

"Yah. Magic 8 Ball...I think...I think I..."

An alarm went off somewhere in the distance and the sound of combat boots stomping echoed off from a nearby hallway.

The Magic 8 Ball hopped out of Finland's arms and rolled between him and the door.

-Run m' love.-

"But-"

-The window is broken open. Run. I'll hold them off.-

"No! There's no way I'm leaving ya here!" Finland reached down to pick the 8 ball back up.

-Don't.- The Magic 8 Ball rolled away from him. -I'll…join ya. Ya need to run and get the…escape vehicle…started.-

-...so we both can escape.-

"Oh! Okay, teamwork! Got it. How do I get to the escape vehicle?"

-Ya run straight out into the forest, and then ya run some more. Fast.-

"Okay! Run, and then run some more! Understood, I will not let ya down. I'll be waiting for ya my love!" Finland cried as he climbed out the window and made a mad dash for the forest.

_He fell for the "escape vehicle" trick...Cute..._ thought Sweden as he spun around to see a shady silhouette fill the door space.

"Vell he'll be vaiting a vhile, von't he? Oh vell, no vorries. I still have this syringe of smallpox that I can go after him vith once I'm done crushing your plastic covering like an eggsh-SH(OOTBASKE)T!"

Russia flinched as a shot of laser vision incinerated the syringe of smallpox, leaving it a noninfectious pile of soot that fell through Russia's fingers.

"Vell you just saved the World Health Organization a lot of money. Good job on that I guess. Ah no matter, I can still kill him, just in a vay that's not as much fu-F(REPRODUCE)!"

The Magic 8 Ball had taken the opportunity to jump up and bash Russia in the gut while he was caught up in a monologue.

"Vhy you little-! You know vhat? I've had just about enough of this."

Russia grabbed his MP-443 Grach and took a shot at the center of the 8 ball. Sweden tried to dodge but the bullet still grazed him in the side. Blue dye and black plastic flew into the air as the blast blew away about a third of Sweden's sphere-shaped prison. He shot the barrel of Russia's pistol so it fused and couldn't fire again, but Sweden knew disarming him wasn't going to be enough pretty soon. Sweden's seconds were slipping away.

_Please,_ Sweden pleaded silently with the narrator, _let fridge logic work for me one last time. Let me have the power to destroy the one who wants to harm Finland. Let me die in a manner that allows m' wife to keep living._

Request granted. As you all likely know, eight balls are round, black and shiny. Cartoon bombs are also round, black and shiny.

Therefore

Magic 8 Ball = Secret ultra-powered explosive

_Thanks._ Sweden started rolling towards Russia. As his velocity increased his mind filled with the image of the last view he'd had of his wife, calling to him as he climbed through the window.

_Good thing I messaged his friend to come pick him up._ After escaping from the heavy metal box, Sweden had found Russia's computer with a blank email to Estonia open on the desktop.

Convenient. He'd then used his laser vision to type a message. It was a it vague since he could only use each key once, but he was pretty sure Estonia was smart enough to figure out the gist of what

HELP FINAD!

was supposed to mean.

_M' wife will be okay,_ Sweden thought as he was centimeters away from a collision with Russia. _That's all that matters._

_M' wife…_

The small sphere crashed into Russia's ankle and exploded into an enormous fireball that instantly consumed Russia, his soldiers, the prison and all the backup furbies therein.

Logically, a small plastic sphere would not have been able to take on all the forces of Russia all on its own. But it needed to do so in order to save its love.

And love, in its highest form, beats out logic

every

single

time.

**Don't kill the narrator. The story isn't over yet. I told you the ending would be happy and I will keep my promise. Just trust me.**


	19. A Chance

-Don't count on it.-

-My sources say no.-

-Very doubtful.-

-Better not tell you now.-

-Kolkolkolkolkolkol...-

-Outlook not so good.-

-Ask again later.-

Finland's eyes were red and swollen as he slammed the last Magic 8 Ball down on the Wal-Mart shelf, collapsed to his knees and wept uncontrollably. A crowd of concerned onlookers had gathered when Finland had been pulling each and every one of the eight balls of the shelf and asking it if his true love was inside. Now they stepped away, feeling both immense pity and extreme discomfort.

"IT'S ALL MY FAULT! HOW COULD I BE SO STUPID TO THINK THERE WAS REALLY AN ESCAPE VEHICLE THAT I HAD TO GET READY? I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN HE WOULD LIE TO PROTECT ME! I LET MY ONE TRUE LOVE DIE!"

Estonia was a snowflake away from snapping himself. He knelt down next to Finland and put a hand on his shoulder. "Finland, please don't blame yourself. It was my fault. I was worried about you so I went to talk to Lithuania and Mr. Russia overheard me. Finland, I'm so sorry, I-"

"He's never coming back..." Finland sobbed as he held his face in his trembling hands. "Never! Never ever! I should have never left his side! I should have died with him, Estonia...I should have died."

"But Finland, he wanted you to live-"

"I don't deserve to live! I don't want to live! All that's left in life for me is the guilt that I let my one true love die and that sense of loss that only went away when the Magic 8 Ball was around."

Estonia had no comparison for the despair he felt watching his friend suffer. He also felt pressure from the store security staff, who had just showed up on the scene to see what was causing all the ruckus.

"Come on Finland..." Estonia lifted his friend up to his feet "Let's get you home."

Finland allowed himself to be led out of the store, too empty to fight or care what happened. The loss from two Christmas seasons ago was here to stay. More than an eight ball had been destroyed in the explosion that took down Russia, Finland's own soul had gone up in smoke along with the rest of it.

Sweden was not doing a terrible lot better as he watched his true love's misery from Roman Empire's dead person camera.

"That is a too sad for me to make a toga joke about," Roman Empire sighed as he strummed a melancholy tune on his guitar. "I can't even...this just really, really sucks."

"Yah."

"But I mean, no offense, but he should get over it eventually right? And you kept him alive, you should be happy for that, yes?"

"Didn't want him to live like this-" Sweden sighed sadly as he watched Finland pull out the vodka and sugar cookies and try to drown his sorrows in booze and junk food.

"Well look on the bright side-as long as he's alive he still has a chance to find some purpose in life. Maybe it won't feel complete because he misses you, but it will still be something. And you, since you died selflessly, get to have your wish back. You could a use it to enter heaven, turn Denmark into a Magic 8 Ball...there's quite a bit you can do!"

"_...because he still misses you..."_

"I know what my wish is," Sweden said suddenly.

"Roman Empire turned his head "Oh, what is it Sweden my friend?"

"Erase me."

"WHAT!?"

"Erase me from existence entirely, including Finland's memory, especially Finland's memory. I want my last wish to be Finland's complete happiness and safety, without me. Erase my soul, restore his. This is all I want..."

A single tear ran down Sweden's face. "This is all I want...I just want Finland to be happy."

Roman Empire's eyes were not completely dry at this point either. This couldn't be the way it ended, it just couldn't be. He couldn't look his grandson in the eye ever again if he let this happen without at least trying to keep it from ending like this.

"Sweden, if that is what you wish, then it will be so. You've died a martyr's death...twice now...so your last wish can not be denied. But I have a proposal for you...maybe you and Finland have a shot at happiness together just yet."

Sweden's eyes narrowed. "I won't play a game of risk with m' wife's happiness, even if it was for a chance to be with him again."

Roman Empire waved his hands in front of him and shook his head "No! No no no my friend, that's not the deal. This is just an experiment, yes? If it goes well, you and Finland live together in complete and total happiness again. If it doesn't, your original wish will be carried out. You will be erased, Finland will forget completely and live a life of happiness without you. Either way Finland's happiness is ensured. What do you say? You want to give it a try?"

"Hmm..." Sweden thought again of the feeling of Finland's soft, perfect fingers interlaced through his own… those bright brown eyes looking up at him as if nobody else in the world even existed…

A chance to have that all again...with Finland's happiness ensured either way...

"I guess yah."


	20. Cheesy Dream Choices

Finland opened his eyes to a king-sized canopy bed. The glowing golden comforter was cool, smooth and shiny, and the billowy white curtains danced in non-existent breeze.

"This bed looks kind of expensive," Finland noted "I'm a little worried to be sitting on the end of it. I mean what if I roll over the wrong way and it breaks? I'm still sort of broke after paying the veterinarian bills for all of my sick reindeer."

Then Finland gasped as a pair of large, strong hands snaked around his waist from behind. He didn't need to turn his head to know who it was, but Finland did anyways.

"Snuggly-Stranger-Dream-Guy?"

The stranger nuzzled Finland's neck and ran a finger down the back of his spine. Finland shuddered. This wasn't right. Something was off. Fin's body was responding to the stranger's touch, but his heart wasn't in it.

Finland turned around to face the stranger in his dreams. Before he could get a good look at the man's eyes, the stranger took Finland's head in his hands and started to bring their faces together.

"NO!" Finland shouted suddenly, shoving the stranger away. "No, stop it! I don't care how attractive ya are! You're not my true love! My true love is the Magic 8 Ball who gave his life to save mine. He's the only one I have feelings for. Your handsomeness has nothing on the beauty of his heart."

The stranger let go of Finland and moved back. He stared into Fin's eyes for a long few moments and then-

…smiled?

"Thank ya," Finland heard the stranger's voice for the first time ever. The man from his dreams started to dissolve into sparkles and the room around them began to blur into a swirl of smudges.

"Thank ya, m' wife."

Wait! That voice…but that was the voice of…the voice of…

The stranger and the surreal surroundings had now been smudged away entirely. Another voice spoke to Finland, the voice of the Roman Empire.

"Congratulations Finland! Since you chose your true love's loving heart over his sexy body you now get to have both of them! Eh, once you give him one kiss in his ridiculous-looking form, that is. Well done, I'm a so happy for you both! Enjoy my friend!"

_What the Helsinki?_ Finland thought as smudgy sleep left him and he woke up to find himself sprawled across his armchair, surrounded by sugar cookie crumbs and empty vodka bottles, head aching from a massive hangover and-

…and a small black sphere sitting on his lap.

-Hello m' love.-

"MAGIC 8 BALL!" Finland squealed as he threw his arms around it and fell onto the floor, rolling around and laughing with relief. "Ah it's you! It's really you! Oh 8 Ball…8 Ball I'm so glad! I've never been so happy to see anyone in my entire life!"

Sweden glowed pink as Finland clutched the small sphere tightly to his chest and beamed at him.

"Magic 8 Ball…I can't believe you're back. How is that even possible?"

-True love.-

Tears welled up in Finland's bloodshot eyes "Yah, that would work, wouldn't it? Oh 8 Ball, please don't leave me again. I love you Magic 8 Ball. My happiness isn't complete without you. All I want in this world is to be by your side and-"

Finland paused and his heart started pounding when he realized what he wanted to ask. No, but he couldn't…why would someone as selfless and sweet as the 8 Ball want that with the likes of him? Still though…he had to, he absolutely had to-

-…?-

"Magic 8 Ball, will ya marry me?"

ALL SYSTEMS ALERT!

TRUE LOVE ACHIEVED.

ADDING 99 MILLION EXTRA LIVES FOR MARRIAGE PROPOSAL FROM FINLAND

MARRIAGE PROPOSAL FROM FINLAND = ULTRA-POWERED ACCEPT =YAH ABSOLUTELY YAH = HAPPINESSHAPPINESSHAPPINESSHAPPINESSHAPPINESS **YAY!**

"Umm…" Finland was a bit confused at the Magic 8 Ball was enveloped in bright blue flames while rainbow heart-shaped fireworks launched into the air and Boys Town Gang started playing in the background.

"_I LOVE YOU BA-BY! AND IF IT'S QUITE ALRIGHT I NEED YOU BA-BY!"_

"So…does this mean…yes?"

The flames, fireworks and music disappeared.

-Yah.-

"Ah! Really? You'll really marry me?"

-Of course. I love ya, Finland.-

"HURRAY!" Finland hopped happily to his feet. "Oh Magic 8 Ball, I just love you ever so much! Let's get married now! Today! We'll elope!"

-Sounds good t' me.-

"Yah! Oh yah, this is so wonderful, I could just kiss ya!"

-That's a great idea.-

"Ah, but no, I should save our first kiss for the ceremony. That would be most proper, yah?"

-Hmm…-

_Little late for that, _Sweden thought to himself as he remembered the night by the rainbow fountain. Ah, no matter. No point trying to explain that to Finland until after the spell was broken.

-…I guess yah.-

"Ah look at me, I'm a mess! I was so depressed last night because I thought ya were gone that I went on a drinking binge and gorged myself on sugar cookies. I know, I'm silly yah? Here, let me take a shower and we'll jump on the first plane out of town. I know the perfect place for us to run away to."

_Anyplace is the perfect place to run away to as long as Finland is with me, _Sweden thought as he watched his lover skip out of the room. He looked around at the orchard of empty cookie wrappers and vodka bottles. Oh dear, Finny really needed some help with that stress-eating problem.

_That's okay, Sexy Swedish Sugar Daddy will be back soon. I'll be there to take care of any kind of appetite m' wife has._

**My my Sweden, how naughty. You've been stuck in that Magic 8 Ball too long, haven't you? No worries Brother, we'll get you out of there soon. **

**Thanks again for the love and the awesome, nifty, fantastic and funny reviews. Sorry about the mood whiplashes and melodrama, I've been getting way more emotionally involved in this story than I expected to. Thank you for being patient with me. Love all around!**


	21. Flight of the Flashback

Finland felt all cozy curled up in the coach section of a 787 flying towards Canada. He'd wrapped the Magic 8 Ball up in an over-sized fuzzy reindeer sweater and was clinging to it as he looked out over the Atlantic Ocean.

_This sweater is soft...but my true love's heart is much softer._ Fin thought as he wrapped his arms around the bundle tighter and dozed off into a cat nap.

Meanwhile, Sweden was remembering the first time they'd gotten engaged.

Er, actually engaged... that is.

There had been that awkward misunderstanding after leaving Denmark's house...

Yeah...That had been kind of embarrassing.

Apparently telling someone "Hey, wait up! Let me run away with you!" was not, as Sweden had first interpreted, a Finnish marriage proposal. It turns out that Finland had just wanted to get away from Denmark as much as he had at the time. Unfortunately Sweden didn't figure this out until after trying to introduce himself to Estonia as Finland's husband.

What a humiliating memory. It'd taken Sweden hundreds of years to make up for lost ground after that mistake.

Their actual engagement that'd happened the morning before the curse shenanigans was a lot more pleasant for Sweden to remember.

_"Rice pudding? This will be a delicious breakfast. Thanks Sweden!" Finland smiled up at him from the kitchen table._

_"Nh. No problem." Sweden took the seat next to him. It was the morning before the World Christmas Party, and Sweden hadn't gotten an hour of sleep the night before. Too nervous. Heck, he was still nervous._

_"Aren't ya going to have some?"_

_"Maybe later."_

_"Ah, alright then. I'll eat now, if ya don't mind. I've been living off of sugar cookies all month, I'm kind of sick of them, ya know?"_

_Sweden nodded, scared out of his stockings behind his stoic exterior. Maybe this was the wrong time. Maybe it was too soon. Maybe Finland had too much on his plate with the Christmas season and whatnot. Maybe Sweden should just snatch that bowl back before-_

_"Hey," Finland asked as he picked up his spoon "Doesn't your country have a tradition that if someone finds an almond in their portion of rice pudding it means that they'll be getting married within the next year?"_

_Sweden tried to bite back the blush from his cheeks. _

_"Yah."_

_Dangit! Finland was onto him._

_"Ha ha! Maybe you'll find one in yours, that'd be a good sign for me. Unless it meant ya were getting married to someone else that is." Finland winked at him._

_The rosiness rising to Sweden's face became harder to suppress. "Hmm..."_

_Words had never come terribly easy to Sweden. That's why he'd opted for the proposal approach that he had. He turned away bashfully as Finland took his first bite._

_"Sweden?"_

_"Hmm?"_

_"This is really good, yah? But...I couldn't help but notice that it's saturated with almonds like chip-a-licious cookie dough is chock full of chocolate chunks."_

"_Yah?" Sweden was still too nervous to turn around as he slid the cinnamon shaker over to Finland. "Ya better put some of this on it then."_

_Finland picked up the cinnamon shaker with a quizzical look._

"_Umm, Sweden? This cinnamon shaker is empty."_

"_Hmm…" Apparently it was taking Finland a while to put the pieces together. Or maybe this was the most stupid proposal method anyone had ever thought of. Either way, it was too late to go back now. "Ya sure about that?"_

"_I think so. I mean no cinnamon is coming out of it and it's making this weird metal clanking noise when I shake it," Finland said before he unscrewed the lid, looked inside and gasped._

_Sweden would've been less nervous waiting for the nuclear apocalypse during those long silent seconds that it took Finland to look inside and read the note Sweden had taped to the wedding band._

"_Umm…this is really sweet, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to say no-"_

_DANGIT_

_PROPOSAL METHOD = TERRIBLE_

_TIMING = TERRIBLE_

_EVERYTHING = TERRIBLE_

_TERRIBLE TERRIBLE TERRIBLE __**BAD**_

_Commencing operation "Bury self in the center of the Earth and never ever EVER come back out __EVER__"_

"…_to the cinnamon shaker. I mean, the empty spice bottle is nice and everything, but to be honest Sweden, the one I really love and want to marry is you."_

Yeah. Yeah I know, put _that_ scene on a greasy pizza and ship it to the USA. It might almost be cheesy enough for him.

In any case, once Finland understood that it was Sweden and NOT the cinnamon shaker that had proposed to him, the situation turned around entirely.

_I wonder what he would've said then if I'd told him he was going to be engaged to an 8 ball less than two years later…_ Sweden thought as the intercom alerted the passengers that the plane was making its initial descent into Calgary.

As people started putting their tray tables up Sweden allowed himself one more flashback...one about a conversation they'd had by the snowflake-shaped ice sculpture at the Christmas party right before the game of international musical chairs.

_"Sweden?"_

_"Yah?"_

_"Ya really want to marry me?"_

_"Yah."_

_"Even though I'm silly a lot of the time?"_

_"You're cute when you're silly."_

_"And I have a huge stress-eating problem?"_

_"Nh, ya only do that because you're always stressed trying to do kind things for other people. You have a sweet tooth because you have a sweet heart. Part of why I love ya, Finland."_

_Finland turned rosy "Oh Sweden, ya may not talk much, but ya say the sweetest things when ya do. I do love that you're strong, handsome and resourceful, but what I love most about ya is that you're sweet. I'd marry ya for your sweetness alone, Sweden."_

_It was Sweden's turn to turn red "...Really?"_

_Finland nodded._

_"Mmm..." Sweden wrapped his arms around Finland's waist and closed his eyes to keep his glasses from fogging up. _

_"Thank ya m' love. That means a lot t' me."_

**Sorry that chapter took me a while guys. I was busy yesterday experiencing my first kiss...from a dolphin that is! (Still in Florida. Dolphins are adorable mother-freakers, by the way, and if you ever get the chance to swim with them, do it. Best thing ever.) Sadly, the dolphin must've not been my true love, because I did not turn into a dolphin after it kissed me. That's okay, if I was a dolphin I wouldn't be able to write for you guys, and that would be sad because you are all the best readers ever! **

**Love all around!**


	22. True Love's Kiss

**I really do appreciate the heck out of everyone who has been reading and reviewing this. To show this appreciation I have made you all an illustration! Here's the link. **

galacticglitter .deviantart art/Here-beside-ya-378471251

(You'll have to take the spaces out...sorry...)

**It's posted on my brand new deviantart! (Finally got one.) My drawing style is simple and not dreadfully impressive (but you probably already figured that out by looking at the cover art) but hopefully it will still make you smile. Making my readers smile is always my goal.**

**Love all around!**

The turquoise waters of Lake Louise glittered in the background of the outdoor chapel. Canada had been so appreciative that Finland was able to distinguish him from America that he agreed to perform the marriage ceremony for free.

"By the power invested in me by a parliament that consists mostly of maple syrup bottles, a couple of moose and some slices of extremely strange bacon, I now pronounce you man and m-...uhm...I now pronounce you… married!"

Finland beamed at the Magic 8 Ball down in his hands.

"We're married Magic 8 Ball! We're really married!"

-Yah.-

"I never believed that I'd ever find someone to be in true love with, and now I'm married to my true love! It's kind of like the ending of fairy tale, yah?"

-It is.-

"I suppose I should kiss ya now or something...if that's okay with ya."

-It is v'ry okay.-

"Ha ha! Alright then," Finland leaned down and placed a small, soft kiss on the sphere's plastic casing.

And then, following the flash of a bolt of lime green lightning, the Magic 8 Ball vanished into thin air.

"Wait, wha-? NO! NOT AGAIN! Eh-what's-? My hand is sparkling...why is my hand sparkl-there's a shiny cinnamon-scented wedding band on my finger now... MY EIGHT BALL TURNED INTO A RING? MAGIC 8 BALL, SPEAK TO ME! IS THAT YOU? EIGHT BALL!" Finland shouted at his left ring finger as he felt someone tap him on the shoulder.

"Eight ba-?" Finland was struck speechless when he spun around and saw who was behind him.

No...it couldn't be.

"The sexy stranger from my-?"

But not a stranger. Finland took one look into those deep blue eyes and remembered...

...everything.

Finland gasped.

_"Hey Finland! Are you going to play musical chairs with us Dude?"_

_"Umm, well, to be honest with ya-" Finland was secured in place on the sofa by the strong arms of a sleeping Sweden. _

_Not that he minded._

_"-probably not. I wouldn't want to wake him up. He kind of looks too cute like this, yah know?"_

_"Ha ha ha! You old people are ridiculous! Good thing I'll never ever fall in love! Romance with the hero has to be desirably unattainable!" America laughed as he skipped off to join the rest of the world for a game of musical chairs._

_Finland felt Sweden stir after a couple of minutes of music and shouting. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and sat up on the sofa._

_"'m sorry m' love. I didn't mean t' keep ya from playing."_

_"Ah! No worries. Why would I want to fight over an empty chair when the seat I really want is the one next to ya?"_

_"Hmm..." Sweden stretched his arms "I like that logic." He stood up and offered a hand to Finland. "Ya want t' get some more punch with me?"_

"_Sure!" Finland took his hand and stood up beside him as the sudden outbreak of a very loud argument turned their attention to the far side of the room._

"_Get your bloody a(sphault) out of my chair you wanker!"_

"_Ha ha! No way Dude! I was so here first!"_

"_Your indigenous friends told you the same thing and you stuck them all on a reservation!"_

"_Dude! The start of that trend was all you Bro! I learned from your bad example, because The Hero could never come up with bad things to do on their own. I'm blaming you for all the bad habits I picked up in my childhood. Tragic past hero!"_

"_You know what you limey pile of overgrown colonies? I did make a mistake in your bloody childhood-I should've finished you off when you were a wee sport! I will correct that mistake RIGHT NOW!"_

_A burst of dark purple energy surrounded by lime green lightning bolts narrowly missed America, bounced off the punch bowl and was heading right towards Finland-_

_-and then Sweden jumped in front of him at the last second._

"_SWEDEN! NO!"_

THAT must've been the loss Finland had been feeling this entire time. That must be-the eight ball… the sexy stranger…it all had to be-

"It was you! It was all you this entire time! I remember now! SWEDEN!" Finland cried as he threw himself into his lover's arms.


	23. Reunion

"It was you! It was all you this entire time! I remember now! SWEDEN!" Finland cried as he threw himself into his husband's arms with such force that they both toppled over and landed on the grass.

"Hello m' wife."

"I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! Sweden, I'm so confused…what on earth happened? What was that curse that hit ya? Why were ya an 8 ball? How come I wasn't able to remember about ya until now?"

Sweden gazed up into those lost-looking brown eyes. So lovely…it'd been forever since he'd gotten to look at them properly and not through weird, blurry 8 ball vision.

"Sweden?"

"Cute…"

"Ah, I'm sorry! You've been stuck in there all this time and the first thing I do is tackle ya and ask ya a bazillion questions. Here, I'll get off of ya-"

"Nh." Sweden pulled Finland back down and locked his arms around him "Ya can stay where ya are."

Finland smiled as he settled his head onto Sweden's chest. "Silly Swedish snuggle-monster, ya haven't changed a bit, have ya?"

"Not really."

"That's okay, ya don't need to change. I love ya just the way ya are, just like this."

"Good, because 'm not going into a Magic 8 Ball again."

"HOLY MARTIN F(REPRODUCING) LUTHER I THREW YA OFF OF MOUNT HALTI! Oh Sweden I'm so sorry! I'm a terrible lover! I should've remembered, I can't believe I let the curse take all my memories of us away-"

_He's blaming himself...I should've known he would do this..._

"And then I locked ya in a closet and-"

_Actually I wouldn't mind doing that part again as long as Fin was locked in there with me..._

"-can't believe I didn't recognize ya! And in the dream form even..."

_Dream form...good times. I'd like some more kisses actually, where around here can I find a rainbow fountain and some theme music?_

Finland sat up and started crying "...And all that after ya had sacrificed yourself to save me! I'm the worst spouse ever, forgive me Sweden!"

Finland crying = Unacceptable

Putting operation "Find rainbow fountain to promote the occurrence of kisses" has been put on hold.

Primary objective has switched to "Stop dear sweet true love Finland from being sad".

Finland sadness elimination commencing...

Sweden sat up and held Finland close to him, letting his wife cover his suit jacket with tears.

"So," Sweden started "Ya want to hear a crazy story?"

Finland sniffled "Okay my love…" he replied with a weak, shaky voice.

"Alright then," It would be difficult for Sweden to say more than three sentences within a short time period, but for his true love, he would try.

"Here's m' story. A long time ago I was working at Denmark's house. I didn't like it, but I'm glad it happened, because that was where I met Finland. And I liked Finland."

Sweden looked back at his wife's face. The tears seemed to be abating a bit, so he kept going.

"I liked Finland because he was cheerful, friendly and had a giving heart. Finland was nice t' everybody, even t' me, even though I made life awkward for him-"

"No ya didn't-"

"Yah I did."

"Well, maybe a little-"

"A lot. Now hush m' love, 'm telling ya a story. Finland cared about others a lot. He'd do things like work unpaid overtime to make Christmas happen for everybody and turn off the heat in his home to pay for his sick reindeers' vet bill."

WARNING! SWEDEN IS SAYING **TOO MANY** WORDS.

Too many words = system overload probable

_Irrelevent, switch to back up power. I need to say this._

Back up power = coming online…

"I realized I loved Finland. So I asked him to marry me, and he agreed. That cinnamon shaker never had a chance…"

Finland laughed a bit and gave him a shaky smile.

"Right after that, on the happiest night of m' life, I got hit with a curse that turned me into a Magic 8 Ball. I didn't like that. And it erased Finland's memories of us. I liked that even less…

But not even that terrible curse could make Finland forget me entirely. Finland remembered something, and no matter how much it hurt him, he refused to forget. Finland loved me, even though I was ridiculous looking and mostly useless. Because Finland loved me for what was inside my heart, he was able to break the spell. That is why Finland is my one true love, and why the thing that makes me most happy in this world is seeing him happy."

BACK UP POWER DEPLETED

_I hope that worked._

"Sweden…" Finland's eyes were dry now and his smile had returned.

Operation successful.

Now recharging power in order to resume operation "Find rainbow fountain to promote the occurrence of ki-"

"SWEDEN I MISSED YA SO MUCH!" Finland threw his arms around his husband's neck.

_Hold that thought, rainbow fountain may not be necessary._

"I missed ya too, m' wife."

"But you're here now. And we're married! We're finally married Sweden!"

"Yah."

"This is the best! This is the best thing ever! Though," Finland turned pink "I…this is probably a silly question yah? But, umm…ya won't disappear or turn into an 8 Ball if I kiss ya again…will ya?"

"No. I won't."

"Are ya sure? I mean I want to kiss ya but to be honest with ya I'm a little worri-oh!"

WARNING! FINLAND'S CUTENESS HAS PUT SELF-RESTRAINT SYSTEMS OFFLINE.

KISS INEVITABLE.

_That warning came a bit late, _Sweden thought as grabbed his wife by the collar and pulled him into a kiss.

Finland gasped as their lips came together. At first he was frozen, too shocked and thrilled to respond. Then after a few seconds he closed his eyes and kissed his husband back

_So warm, so very warm..._ Finland had never felt so safe, so wanted or so loved as he did right then. As Sweden slipped his arms around his waist, Finland felt himself falling farther and farther into a huge foofbag chair of affection.

_This is so strange...I feel like our souls are melting into each other like when ya put cookies too close together on a cookie sheet and then their edges start to mold into one._

_Cookies...always my mind goes back to food, I'm so silly!_

_But this is nice yah? It somehow feels like this was my heart's destiny to begin with...to become one with Sweden's heart. This is what I want..._

_This is all that I want…_

"Sweden?" Finland asked as their faces came apart "I know you're not an 8 Ball anymore, but can I still ask ya a question about the future?"

"Of course."

"Can we stay like this forever?"

"Hmm…" Sweden had a rare small smile on his face as he smoothed Finland's hair and looked deep into those bright brown eyes.

"…signs point to yah."

Meanwhile in dead person land, Russia asked Roman Empire a question he would rather not give the answer to.

"So I know I vas basically being a massive jerk-bucket vhen I vas alive, so vhat kind of future has the bad karma carved out for my afterlife?"

"Eh…" Roman Empire almost felt pity for the ruthless Russian as he pictured the horrendous scene.

_A bright red Magic 8 Ball was plowing through the snow at top speed in absolute terror._

"_Big Brother!" A blue furby with a white bow on its head chased after the Magic 8 Ball. "Big Brother…let me kiss you! Become one with me and the kiss of true love will return us to our original forms…"_

"…better not a tell you now…"

**Thanks for reading! Please leave a final review if you feel so inclined! I'd like to know what you liked and what I need to improve on so I can make sure my next story is one everybody enjoys.**

**Also, LittleLobsterLocks did a sweet remake of my illustration from last chapter. I was way honored and thought it was an awesome picture, so I'm putting the link to it here-**

Littlelobsterlocks .deviant /art /Love-is-More-Powerful-than-Logic- 378761853

(just take out all the spaces)

**I'll be posting some more illustrations on my deviant art soon, of this and my other stories. I wanted to draw the scene with Roman Empire and Sweden talking on the phone and Finland with the Magic 8 Ball at the wedding. I'm presently working on a picture of the scene where they're dancing by the rainbow fountain. **

**Are there any other scenes from this story you guys would want to see illustrated? The illustration would be way cartoony and silly-looking as sandwiches, but if you tell me to do it I will try my best! As long as it makes somebody smile. : )**

**Love all around!**


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